Beer-related travel, at home and abroad, exploring and indulging my passion for beer.

Saturday, 6 March 2010

This isn't just Beer, this is M&S Beer.

Tonbridge is a pleasant enough market town. It's got a bit of history attached to it, and even has its own 12th Century castle, with a largely intact gatehouse, even though the Parliamentarians did manage to demolish the rest of it! So far as shops go though Tonbridge is a bit of a "one horse town", with few really "big name" retail outlets.

That doesn't bother me, as like most blokes I don't care for what the fairer sex (and certainly the lady of this house), refers to as "retail therapy". Occasionally though I do need to venture further afield in order to purchase things that are unavailable in this town, so this afternoon I headed over to nearby Tunbridge Wells, my mission being to acquire a new pair of walking boots. Unfortunately, despite visiting four "outdoor-leisure pursuit" shops I was unable to find boots that fitted the criteria I was looking for, or if they did, were either not available in my size or, at a price I could afford.

The trip was not entirely wasted though, as I popped into Marks & Spencer and, after perusing their food hall, was pleasantly surprised to see the beers they had on offer. What's more, many were available on a "four for the price of three" basis. Consequently I purchased a Chocolate Porter from Robinsons, a London Porter from Meantime Brewery, a Southwold Winter Beer from Adnams, plus a Staffordshire IPA produced by Marstons. All the beers are brewed exclusively for M&S, and I look forward to trying them in due course.

Earlier in the day I also picked up several bottles of Co-Op Organic Ale; a 5.0% beer, brewed using a percentage of Fairtrade sugar by Freeminer Brewery. Many retailers are promoting Fairtrade products this week, and the Co-Op were selling this beer at just £1.00 a bottle. I'm planning to crack one open tonight, and given Freeminer's excellent brewing credentials, I'm optimistic that it will be a good beer.

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About Me

Sixty years old (just) and married with one twenty-something son, who shows no sign of wanting to
leave home. My interests are many and varied, and whilst beer (and the
enjoyment of it) obviously features high on the list I also enjoy travelling
(particularly when it involves searching out new beers to try), cycling and
walks in the countryside. I dabble a bit in gardening, which at the moment
primarily involves re-landscaping my garden. My other main interests though are
music, especially 70's rock music, and history. I have been a member of CAMRA
since the mid 1970's and have edited a number of local branch magazines. I have
also had published two, now sadly out of date, guides to Kent
pubs. For six years my wife and I also ran our own successful real-ale
off-licence, which as well as selling cask ale to take away by the pint,
offered one of the best selections of bottled beers in the south east. Prior to
taking on the shop, I was an accomplished home-brewer producing a wide range of
full-mash beers; something I intend to get back into in the not too distant
future.